T. Boone Pickens Has a Plan for Natural Gas
By Ron Cogan
An extremely successful entrepreneur with deep roots in oil and natural gas, Boone Pickens sees the need to wean ourselves from dependence on oil. This has been on his mind for some time, long before today’s reports on his new energy plan involving natural gas and wind power. Here are his thoughts from a 2005 Green Car interview that seem especially prescient today. More...
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Daimler Creates a Practical Fuel Cell Minivan
Developing automobiles powered by hydrogen fuel cells has progressed from a distant dream to a vision that’s being achieved in real time. Among the early leaders was Daimler-Benz, which fielded its NECAR (New Electric Car) series of vehicles.
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GM Moves Forward with Impact Electric Car
The most notable vehicle introduction of the 1990s was the GM Impact electric car concept that debuted at the 1990 L.A. Auto Show. Shortly afterward, there was a flurry of activity to make this vehicle real. Here’s an early assessment of the progress.
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Electric Cars in Need of Public Charging
Building a public charging infrastructure is important in providing extended electric car range. This was no small challenge in the 1990s as electric vehicle interests sought to establish charging stations to serve the needs of new electric cars.
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Chrysler Says Batteries Not Ready for Electric Cars
In 1995, Chrysler identified the Caravan and Voyager minivans as its first commercial electric cars destined to meet the ZEV mandate. It also shared that battery technology was not ready to provide the cost and functionality customers desired.
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Driving Mazda's Miata Electric Car
Mazda set the auto world on its heels in 1989 with the introduction of its 1990 Miata sports car. Even then, it was hard not to envision what an electric version would be like. In 1995, Mazda invited Green Car to take an electric Miata prototype out for a spin.
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Nissan Future Electric Vehicle
In the early 1990s, Nissan showed it was a force to be reckoned with in the advanced technology realm. As GM was taking a high-profile with its Impact electric vehicle prototype in the U.S., Nissan was showcasing its FEV (Future Electric Vehicle) in Japan.
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Ford Ranger Gliders for Electric Conversions
In the early years of electric vehicles, converters modified existing new models by removing their engines and installing electric drive and batteries. Ford decided to help the process along by offering Ranger “gliders” to converters without engines.
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Ford's Ecostar Electric Car Shines
Early electric vehicle efforts took many forms as automakers scrambled to meet California’s impending 1998 Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. Ford’s Ecostar stood out because of its use of a sodium-sulfur “hot” battery in a European Escort Van.
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Ramping Up the Electric Car Battery
The quest to develop high energy and affordable batteries for electric cars has been underway for years, with many companies making significant investments during the 1990s in what appeared to be a lucrative opportunity.
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BMW's Early Electric Cars
One of the more interesting electric cars in the early 1990s was the German-designed BMW E1 and then the U.S.-designed E2, innovative yet mainstream looking vehicles that showed BMW’s interest in electric power.
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Driving Daimler’s Hydrogen NECAR 4
Once boasting the industry’s most high-profile hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Daimler’s NECAR demonstration program gathered significant momentum in a very short period in the 1990s. Green Car drove many NECAR variants and documented the results.
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Volvo’s Bi-Fuel Natural Gas 850
Volvo brought 20 bi-fuel natural gas 850 sedans and wagons to the U.S. in the 1990s as part of an early development fleet to explore market potential here. Green Car evaluated an example with 3,000 miles behind the wheel.
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Bombardier’s Inexpensive EV
In the 1990s, electric cars were starting to come to the fore, but most were being aimed at fleets and all were expensive. The problem then was the same as now: battery cost. Then there emerged hope in the form of the Bombardier NV.
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CALIFORNIA MODIFIES ZEV MANDATE
In 1996, The California Air Resources Board voted to give automakers a reprieve from implementation of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which would have required 5 percent ZEV sales by 1998 and more in later years.
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CALSTART Showcase Electric Car
California aerospace companies applied their technology expertise in the CALSTART Showcase Electric Vehicle, which was used in an attempt to attract the attention of auto companies looking to manufacture high-tech electric cars.
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The Price of Electric Car Charging
In the mid-1990s as electric car designs were emerging, it became evident that a charging standards war was also brewing. GM had its elegant magnetic inductive charging paddle. Ford had its less costly conductive charger design. Neither appeared ready to back down.
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Toyota RAV4 EV in Field Trials
The super-efficient Prius brought many new technologies to the market, but it didn’t do this alone. Work conducted in Toyota’s RAV4 EV electric vehicle program years earlier paved the way with its many advanced electric drive technologies.
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Nissan Electric Minivan Program
In the 1990s, Nissan leased a demonstration fleet of lithium-ion battery powered minivans with a 120 mile range. Why not a smaller and lighter electric car that could drive more than 200 miles between charges? A recognition that not everyone will drive small cars.
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Honda to Lease EV Plus Electric Car
As Honda begins leasing its hydrogen FCX Clarity to fleets and consumers in limited numbers today, it’s interesting to look back at how this automaker handled the roll-out of a similar program with its EV Plus battery electric car back in the 1990s.
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Driving The Precurser of the Toyota Prius Hybrid
Before the Prius was born, the Toyota Hybrid System was being developed in a nondescript Toyota sedan. Green Car editors drove this at Toyota’s Arizona proving grounds in 1997 and knew immediately that the electric drive field would change forever.
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Tokyo R&D IZA Electric Car
Most news in the electric vehicle arena was made early on by the General Motors Impact prototype. As other automakers began picking up the pace in the race to build an electric car, activities were also taking place outside the automakers' labs. One that stood out was Tokyo R&D's IZA electric car.
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Pininfarina Ethos Green Sports Car
There was very little crossover between eco-friendly attributes and sports cars back in the early 1990s. Even so, there were major players exploring how performance and fun-to-drive characteristics could be incorporated into "greener" performance cars
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Volvo Hybrid Environmental Concept Car
In the early 1990s, most activities that focused on electric drive involved battery electric vehicles. Then Volvo stunned everyone with its high-speed turbine hybrid Environmental Concept Car.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 16: Ethanol Ousts Methanol
By 1997, the Department of Energy was recognizing ethanol's growing role while methanol was falling out of favor.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 15: US & Brazilian Ethanol
While a general move from methanol to ethanol was evident in 1996, there were also conflicting activities taking place.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 14: Making Cheaper Ethanol
By the end of 1995, methanol was increasingly sharing the news with ethanol.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 13: GM Supports FlexFuel
The transition from a methanol focus to renewable ethanol fuel began in 1995, although methanol was still at play.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 12: Methanol Rental Cars
While methanol and ethanol vehicle activities grew in the mid-1990s, other alternative fuels gained momentum.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 11: Driving M85 Vehicles
Nothing provides the same level of understanding as actually getting behind the wheel and driving.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 10: Infrastructure For Alt Fuels
In the early 1990s, the lack of an extensive refueling infrastructure posed big challenges for flexible-fuel vehicles.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 9: Corn Based Ethanol in the US
After almost universal focus on petroleum-based methanol, manufacturers and...
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 8: Alternate Fuel Filling Stations
It seemed that M85 methanol fueling was about to get a huge boost in late 1993.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 7: Methanol in North America
In 1993, methanol activities were gaining momentum in the U.S. and Canada.
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 6: Methanol & Natural Gas
As methanol flexible-fuel vehicles were being further developed by automakers...
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 5: US DOE Supports FFVs
Through 1992 and 1993, methanol was one of the favored fuels for commercialization...
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 4: Legislation for Methanol Fuel
As the latter months of 1992 unfolded, alcohol fuel continued its march toward commercialization...
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 3: Flex Fuel Vehicles Emerge
During the 1990s, alcohol fuels continued gaining momentum as potential contenders to gasoline...
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 2: Saab 9000 Multifuel
During the 1990s, alcohol fuels continued gaining momentum as potential contenders to gasoline...
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Cars on Alcohol, Part 1: M85 Methanol Emerges
In the 1990s, Green Car Journal reported extensively on the emergence of methanol as an alternative motor fuel...
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